The Life I Wanted
Bianca
Dante is starting to ask questions.
I see it in the way he stares into space between conversations. In the way he sometimes answers without really listening.
His mind is somewhere else.
With her.
I need to keep the pressure on. Keep them from getting close again. Remind him that I’m his present.
And for that, I have one advantage she doesn’t.
I still have access to him. To his body.
I slowly straighten and swing myself onto his lap. My mouth finds his, soft and patient.
He stiffens at first.
Then gives in.
His hands close automatically around my waist, but his heart isn’t in it.
But the body is easier to convince than the mind.
Our tongues slide together. I move slowly against him. Soon, despite himself, his body reacts. His hand glides up my thigh, and I let out a soft moan—just enough, perfectly timed.
And then everything shifts.
He opens his eyes and looks at me with that faint disconnect between body and mind, as though suddenly realizing it’s me in his arms—not her.
His gaze turns distant, as if he’s shutting a door inside himself.
His hands gently push me aside, and he rises to put space between us.
I already know what he’s going to say.
“Sorry. I’m not in the mood tonight.”
I swallow my frustration and immediately switch strategies.
No accusations.
No sulking silence.
This isn’t the moment.
“I know. I understand.” I soften my voice. “You’ve got so much on your mind. The company, the wedding, the delayed funding round, Valeria coming back…” I shake my head faintly. “That’s a lot to deal with.”
He doesn’t answer.
I push a little further. Maybe this is my chance to get what I want.
“Do you know why she suddenly wants to come back to the company after all this time? What’s this obsession with reclaiming a place where nobody’s waiting for her anymore?”
He frowns, and I realize instantly that I made a mistake.
“It’s as much her company as mine,” he snaps. “Without her, Aurenza wouldn’t exist.”
One wrong word, and he immediately puts me back in my place.
Understood.
“I phrased that badly,” I say quickly. “What I mean is… I feel like she’s hiding something from us.”
His eyes narrow slightly before he answers.
“Focus on the wedding preparations and let me handle Valeria… and whatever game she’s playing.”
I won’t get anything else out of him tonight.
That’s fine.
I planted the doubt.
If she tries anything, he’ll crush her himself.
I watch him walk toward the bedroom.
Why isn’t she dead?
The question comes back every single time, relentless and impossible to understand.
And yet, here she is. Smiling. Untouched. Dangerous.
Like a weed you rip out… only for it to grow back stronger.
The fire meant to cover our tracks accomplished nothing. Worse—it might hand her ammunition against us.
When I step into the bedroom, Dante is already lying down with his back turned toward me. I lean over and kiss his shoulder.
“Goodnight, sweetheart.”
He grunts something that probably means goodnight.
“I love you.”
The words hang there between us.
He doesn’t answer.
He never does.
I swallow the knot tightening in my throat.
And watch him silently.
I think back to the first time Valeria introduced us.
That dinner at their apartment eight years ago. She’d been radiant. And him… He looked at her like she was the center of his universe.
That was the night I decided one day he would look at me that way too.
So I waited. I smiled. I cried with her when I needed to. Laughed with her while holding her hand, waiting for the right moment.
I became the perfect best friend. And now he sleeps in my bed.
I don’t know when I started loving him. Whether it was before or after Valeria disappeared.
If I were a better person, I’d give him time to sort through his feelings.
But I won’t.
I worked too hard to get him. There’s no way I’m giving up my place.
I wait until his breathing turns deep and steady.
Only then do I reach for my phone.
BIANCA: Any news?
FALCO: Nothing yet.
BIANCA: We need to move faster. I’m sure she’s planning something. The timing of her return isn’t random.
FALCO: Maybe she just wants to stop your wedding.
BIANCA: That’s not happening.
FALCO: Don’t be too confident. Pride comes before the fall.
BIANCA: Are you on my side or hers?
FALCO: Yours, obviously.
Dante shifts in his sleep.
I slide the phone beneath the sheets, frozen, my heart pounding.
He settles again.
Slowly, I pull it back out.
BIANCA: Any updates on her police complaint?
FALCO: Nothing yet. The inspector handling the case hasn’t leaked anything, but don’t worry. Everyone has a price. We’ll find his.
I don’t like that answer. I hope he’s only talking about money.
I switch off the screen and lie back down.
Beside me, Dante sleeps, unreachable.
I look at him one last time before closing my eyes.
In five days, he’ll be mine. No matter what state of mind he’s in, he’s not the kind of man who abandons his fiancée days before the wedding.
By then, whatever Valeria is planning, it’ll be too late.
Too bad if Wald doesn’t get what he wants.
I don’t care about his money or his formula.
I’ll have something better soon.
Dante.
And the life I’ve always wanted.